Larissa Swirski. The Double Game of Hitler's Spy

The real woman who inspired the Bond girl Vesper Lynd stars in a WWII thriller of impossible choices, shifting loyalties, and survival.

This graphic novel is inspired by the fascinating life of Larissa Swirski, also known as the Queen of Hearts. A Russian noblewoman in exile, she is recruited by Nazi intelligence in Tangier and sent to Gibraltar to spy on the British during World War II.

Often accompanied by her eleven-year-old daughter Liana—at times a cover, at times an unwitting accomplice—Larissa carries out high-risk missions without fully grasping the extent of Nazi atrocities. Everything changes when her sister, a member of the French Resistance, reveals her collaboration with Hitler’s regime. Confronted with a devastating moral awakening, Larissa switches sides and becomes a double agent for British Intelligence, playing a crucial role in sabotaging Operation Felix, Germany’s plan to seize control of the Strait of Gibraltar.

More than a wartime spy thriller, this graphic novel explores the blurred lines between duty and identity through the extraordinary choices of a woman out of place in her time. Rooted in actual intelligence archives and told from the rare perspective of a mother‑daughter pair in the shadows of global conflict, it illuminates the humanity behind coded messages, secret missions and the moral turns that redefine loyalty and legacy.